2.4.1.4. Colour-marking code

An International Colour Code system exists within
the beekeeping industry to indicate the year the queen was introduced and facilitates
recognition of queen age (Table 3). Since queens do
not live more than 5 years, the colour coding starts over in the sixth year (Table 3).

Marking queens with a dot of
paint is cost-effective and easy to use and thus practical in beekeeping. While
Opalith disks, enabling individual identification of bees (Figs. 2 and 3), have been
widely used in research and breeding where it is essential to know the pedigree
/ history of the queens and colonies.